Penance
by misscheekiness
Summary: "In every end, there is also a beginning." Time travel fic.
1. Remorse

The maniacal laughter still rung in the pinkette's ears as she replayed the scene over and over in her head, the memory still vivid.

Sakura knew that it was the moment everything was lost. It was the moment the world labeled Uchiha Sasuke as an international criminal and stared at him with cruel judging eyes but Sakura knew better.

She knew that it wasn't Sasuke's fault that he turned out this way. Behind those cold and inexorable eyes lay unimaginable pain and loneliness. Sasuke was just another tortured soul, a victim of the shinobi world. But nobody saw him that way.

They never would.

They never would understand how much Sasuke was suffering. He seemed cruel and bloodthirsty, but that was merely what he showed to the world to mask his pain. Sasuke had always been withdrawn and reclusive, never sharing his troubles and pain, always coping on his own. There was a time when Sakura had thought that that was what made him so _cool_, but now, she thought ruefully as tears cascaded down her cheeks, now; she understood that it was a defense mechanism. After the Uchiha massacre he had put up a thick stone wall around his heart to keep people out of his world because he didn't want to feel the pain of losing somebody he cared about again.

Sasuke's soul was permanently damaged. And the tragic reality was that there was nothing she could do about it. She smiled bitterly as she thought, how _painfully ironic_. She was a medic nin, for God's sake, it was her job to heal the wounded but yet again Sakura found herself to be absolutely powerless. It wasn't even about bringing Sasuke back to Konoha anymore. It has gone past that stage.

Bringing Sasuke back to Konoha was merely a selfish illusion that she cast upon herself as a former pathetic fan girl. No, she didn't care about that anymore. She just wanted, more than anything, for Sasuke's soul to heal, even if it meant he would never return to Konoha. But after seeing how empty and hollow his eyes were, all hope had abandoned her and not even Naruto's strong resolve could convince her otherwise.

Sheets of heavy rain began to pour down as though the sky was lamenting Sasuke's loss of humanity. The droplets of rain fell, licking at Sakura's body perpetually. The cold raw air bit at her bones and Sakura's lungs ached from breathing it in. Her vision was obscured with wet pink locks that clung desperately to her face and neck and the air came out in puffs of white smoke from her mouth but she paid no mind to it.

She deserved to suffer anyway.

Delicate fingers wove their way through the lengths of clammy grass in calm soothing movements as her mind drifted off. Sakura didn't know what to do anymore.

'How could I've been so blind and selfish? Why wasn't I there by his side, acting like the friend I should've been? Maybe if I was there for him, he wouldn't have left the village.'

"If only I could turn back time and change things. I would've been there for him if I had another chance."

"No…if only the Uchiha massacre didn't happen in the first place." Sakura mumbled to herself as she hugged her knees but she knew that she was dancing into another illusion if she really thought that things could be reversed.

She wished she was as strong as Naruto and sometimes she wished she had the 'mysterious power' to change people that she heard Kakashi mention. But, she thought sadly, even Naruto's 'mysterious power' isn't enough for Sasuke.

The young Uchiha was broken beyond repair.

Thin streams of tears ran down her face, mixing with the rainwater, as Sakura sobbed quietly. Nobody would see her pathetic state in this heavy rain, in the middle of an abandoned Konoha training ground, so she could let all her sorrows out by crying like a baby.

"You seem to be quite down, dear. Do you want to talk about it?"

Startled, Sakura seized her kunai and threw it in the direction of the amorous voice. An enemy? How could she have not sensed her? Ah. She was so engrossed in her self-pity that she let her guard down; how pathetic.

"My, my, aren't we quite violent? But I expected nothing less from such a highly revered kunoichi."

Sakura spun round to face the enemy, muscled tense, ready to take strike if necessary but was flabbergasted when a brown-haired stunning woman that smiled kindly at her came into view.

"Wh-who are you?" Sakura asked, stupefied. The compliment and the amiable aura radiated from this woman clearly took the pink-haired medic by surprise.

The woman cracked her eyes open and Sakura's viridian orbs met warm honey ones that seemed vaguely familiar. In fact Sakura had a feeling she had seen this woman somewhere before.

"May I sit down?" The woman asked politely.

Sakura nodded dumbly. The woman drifted ethereally towards Sakura and plopped down next to her. Something seemed slightly…off about this woman. She didn't seem suspicious, not that Sakura was letting her guard down, but there was something that made her seem…different. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the kunai had passed right through her or that she seemed to be almost _glowing_.

Or possibly the fact that she seemed almost transparent; droplets of rain splattered through her and if she was aware of this oddity she didn't appear to show it. She seemed almost like a…

"A ghost?" The woman offered.

Sakura's stomach dropped. Had she just read her mind? And what the hell was the woman spouting? Ghosts didn't exist; it was a mere speculation on Sakura's part and one that she deemed absurd.

The woman chortled, her laugh music to the ears.

"No, but I did read your facial expressions which told me everything ,after all, reading body language is crucial for a shinobi such as myself."

This made Sakura's muscles tense with caution and viridian eyes narrow with suspicion. The pink-haired kunoichi unconsciously fingered her kunai; a quirk she had when she was nervous.

It was a genjutsu, she was certain. No wonder the woman appeared preternatural.

"Don't worry I am not going to hurt you."

Sakura's distrust was noticed.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked her voice even.

The woman smiled wanly but a melancholy emotion dawned over her amber orbs – she had a faraway look about her. It was the kind of expression that people wore when they indulged in a particularly nostalgic reminiscence, one that was full of regret. Sakura knew the feeling of remorse all too well and somehow she started to feel culpable for causing this woman to recall such an unpleasant memory.

But that did not mean Sakura had to let her guard down.

"Who are you?" She repeated.

The woman glanced at her, as though contemplating whether to answer the question or not, then turned back to stare at the weeping sky.

"I am Sasori's mother."

Sakura blinked. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I am sorry I think I misheard you-"

"No, I believe you didn't. I am Sasori's mother." The woman who claimed to have given birth to that homicidal puppeteer repeated.

Sakura froze. Eyes widened in bewilderment.

"B—b-but…I heard from Chiyo-baa-sama that Sasori's parents-"

"Died. Yes I know." It appeared as though the kunoichi seemed to be quite keen on finishing off Sakura's sentences for her.

"Then…was she lying?" Sakura whispered.

"No she wasn't." The woman replied, making eye contact with the pink-haired medic to will her to understand.

She watched the frown melt into a look of utter horror and confusion on the young medic's face. Sakura backed away slightly and the brown-haired kunoichi noticed that the pinkette began to tremble but she doubted it was due to the cold.

Sakura's throat went parched and she felt as though her stomach dropped a few inches.

"B-but h-how is th-that possible? You're a ghost? W-wait, i-if you are th-then h-how is it that I can see you? H-how is this possible? Am I d-dead myself?" Sakura stammered. Her tenor was laced with fear and uncertainty.

The woman reached out her hand to try to soothe the hysterical girl but it caused Sakura to recoil in fear. She's a wild-eyed thing scrambling away from the woman like she was the devil. The woman's eyelids came down in a melancholy motion and her hand dropped by her side.

"Rest assured kunoichi, you're still alive but unfortunately I am not. I have no intention of hurting you." She said sadly.

Sakura blinked.

"Th-then how can I see you?" Sakura asked, petrified. She tried to sound demanding but apparently she did a poor job at hiding her fear.

The woman sighed.

"Life is a strange thing you see, not everything has an explanation to offer and sometimes things just happen. I am not too sure myself but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we share something in common," the brown-haired woman took a deep breath, "the feeling of regret."

Thick silence enveloped both women like a blanket as they indulged themselves in remorseful memories, only the soft pitter patter of the rain, which had subsided to a drizzle, could be heard.

A flash of lightening streaked the dark sky, causing shadows to darken and kaleidoscope colors to glow. Beyond the Konoha training ground, children, terrified, ran to the safety of their homes, abandoning the wet playgrounds and murky streets.

But Sakura, drenched to the bone, was used to harsh weather conditions because being a shinobi meant having to endure many predicaments.

But dealing with dead people certainly wasn't on a shinobi's job description. Frankly, Sakura was overwhelmed. She had just freaking _talked_ to a dead person and a mother of her former enemy, for Kami's sake.

Speaking of which, what did she want? How could Sakura see her? Why could she see her? Weren't dead people supposed to be burning in hell or rejoicing in heaven or reincarnating? Not interacting with the living about remorseful memories!

The mahogany-haired woman eyed the kunoichi, she was clearly aghast, if her bewildered expression and uncanny silence was anything to go by but who could really blame her?

After all it's not a common occurrence to have a phantom of a mother of a psychopath to casually approach and fraternize with you. It was bound to leave a sane person confound and stupefied.

Sakura swallowed the painful lump that gathered in her throat.

There was no use remaining petrified, she had to get some answers.

"B-but, _assuming_ that you are…well what you say you are," Sakura whispered, "Wh-why aren't you going to heaven o-or hell or whatever. I-I mean I thought when people…die they go to an afterlife or something like that."

"That's the customary routine for the dead but as with everything, there are always exceptions, me being one such example," the woman shifted in her sitting spot to get a more comfortable position, then continued, "when a soul still lingers in the world of the living that means that he or she is bound by something or someone. It could be some unfinished business but in particular case, as I have already told you, its regret. I have too many regrets to move on."

Somehow Sakura knew what was coming next.

"…And I was hoping you could help me."

_Help her?_ Sakura laughed humorlessly.

"How can I help you? I can barely help myself, let alone somebody else. Last time I tried 'helping' someone…" she trailed off, not wanting to talk about it, it was too painful.

"I know…it's the Uchiha boy right?"

Sakura whipped her head round to look at the woman.

"H-how did you-"

"Being a ghost has its perks, no one can see or hear you, so gathering Intel is effortless." She replied.

Sakura shook her head.

"Never mind that, the point is that I _can't_ help you. Your regret obviously has something to do with Sasori but he's a criminal and he's _dead_! I can't do anything for him or for you. He was a psycho; he turned himself and dead people into puppets to use for battle without a second thought. He deserved to die."

The woman flinched visibly at the harsh reality and Sakura felt guilty for saying that, she really did, but it was the truth.

"I know that," Sakura was startled to hear how the woman's voice trembled, a staggering contrast to her usual strong tenor; "I know that my son, Sasori, was heartless and cruel and he probably deserved worse for what he did. I am not proud of him, I am ashamed of him and I am ashamed of being ashamed of him. But nevertheless he is still my son and it was all my fault that he turned out that way. If only, if only…"

Then she began to cry leaving Sakura guilty beyond measure and at loss for what to do.

"If only I hadn't died like the weak pathetic kunoichi I was. Sasori has been alone for a long time and…and I know that things would've turned out differently with him had he not been…so lonely and deprived of love. Please," the woman choked on her sobs, "please understand. You know that Naruto, your friend, if only Sasori had someone like Naruto with him, I know he would've been different. He didn't know anything else except the life he lived; he wasn't aware how wonderful friendship and relationships could be. He became so cold because…"

'It was his defense mechanism…' Sakura finished for her because Sasori's mother began to cry harder and couldn't bring herself to finish.

It then occurred to Sakura that she was just a mother looking out for her child that had lost his way. Belatedly Sakura wondered: how was she any different from the S-class criminals if she was seriously rejecting this grieving woman? And, she realized with horror, she was judging Sasori the same way that everyone else judged Sasuke.

That did not sit well with Sakura because she had always considered compassion to be one of her personality traits.

Though Sasori's tragic past hardly atoned for all crimes he committed and thinking back to their battle: the blood, the shredded puppets abandoned and strewn across the ground, the fear, the exhaustion, the unbearable pain, the adrenaline, and Sasori's cold, taunting voice; made Sakura shudder visibly.

She couldn't help him. He was a criminal, she was a devoted Konoha kunoichi, and most importantly he was…

She blinked.

Something didn't quite add up with this request. Even if Sakura wanted to…ehrm _agreed_ to help, he was dead and gone. It was obvious that the mother was asking for something unrealistic, perhaps her heartache had fueled her ignorance about this slightly important factor.

So Sakura's answer to her request was obvious.

"I am so sorry but I just can't."

This caused the woman's sobs to stop suddenly.

"…Can't?" She whispered, disbelieving.

"I-I am not like Naruto, I can't change people and anyway he…I just can't do it and he's dead. What am I supposed to do? Bring flowers to his grave and pray that he goes to heaven? I doubt that'll atone for his deeds and even if he was alive I refuse to-"

"Have you ever heard of time travelling before?"

Sakura froze. Time travelling? What was this woman spouting? She heard of time-space ninjustu before but never something as absurd as _time travelling_. Sure, it was often written in fiction novels she had read as a child but was she actually suggesting that it was possible?

"A-are you saying that you can do that?"

"You care about the Uchiha child right? If you could get one more chance to change his fate, would you do it?"

"Yes! I would do anything for him; I don't want him or Naruto to suffer anymore." Sakura answered immediately. Her heart sped up at the thought that maybe she could change his tragic fate.

"Yes? You would trade everything you have just for his happiness?"

"Yes."

"Even if changing the Uchiha boy's fate included helping a criminal like Sasori?"

Sakura blinked but nodded without hesitation.

The amber-eyed woman grinned.

"You know, I think that we can help each other. In answer to your previous question, yes, I am capable of taking someone back in time," this caused the young medic's eyes to widen considerably and utter a gasp, "but there is a price to pay."

Sakura was shocked. She could time-travel? She could reverse the Uchiha massacre? His suffering? His pain? His loneliness? All this could be reversed? She would pay any price for that.

"That's alright, I am willing to pay anything."

Sasori's mother eyed the kunoichi, her emerald orbs blazed with determination and the woman knew she had made the right choice in picking this kunoichi.

"In exchange for taking you back in time, you'll have to help Sasori and show him that there is more to life than just eternity or whatever that blasphemy was. Promise that no matter what you'll stay by his side and become his friend."

Sakura nodded. She was a prideful kunoichi and she would keep that promise. Naruto suffered both because of her and Sasuke, he sacrificed so much for them, and Sasuke was a complete wreck. She would do anything for them even if it meant she had to befriend a psychopath, that's the least she could do.

Besides, she thought positively, maybe Sasori will turn out to be a good person in the end. One less crazy Akatsuki member was a good thing.

Seeing her strong resolve the woman proceeded to speak.

"And…there is another thing," Sakura looked at her attentively, "once I take you back in time, there is no going back to this time ever again. That means…you won't have your parents or anybody else, are you willing to sacrifice that?"

The thought made her blood run cold but that was still not enough to deter her resolve. She would never be able to see her parents ever again. But she refused to cry and she was willing to suffer that. Anything for Sasuke and Naruto. Perhaps she would come to better understand their pain.

Sakura nodded because she could not trust herself to speak lest her voice cracked.

The woman's heart ached for the girl but there was a price to pay for everything, as a shinobi she was supposed to know that. And she did.

"Alright, here's how things will work. When you will go back in time, you will be 7 years old but you will still have the same level of skill and combat as you do now. Be aware that you and Sasori are 20 years apart so I am tweaking things slightly.

"Sasori will be 8 and you will be the same age as Uchiha Itachi. Sasori will be taking his chunin exams then and since Chunin exams are always held in Konoha that will be the time that you will meet him, your golden opportunity. You will have 6 years to prevent the Uchiha massacre from happening, plenty of time I am quite sure."

Sakura's eyes lit up with joy.

"I am going to assume that you're going to take your Chunin exams at the same time as Sasori, you passed them once already, so that should not pose as a problem for you. Since I am tweaking things with the past quite a bit, it requires further payment – your blood."

Without hesitation, Sakura whipped out a kunai and slashed her finger; crimson liquid oozed out, dripping onto the outstretched slender fingers of the Suna kunoichi. Once a small puddle of warm blood gathered in the woman's hands she began executing the hand seals.

"Your blood signifies your agreement and it also means your soul now belongs to me as payment. So here goes. By the way, my name is Kamiko."

"Nice to meet you Kamiko-san." Sakura smiled. She decided to ignore the comment about her soul belonging to Kamiko because she had no idea what that meant.

Sakura felt cold hands, which glowed with immense blue chakra, rest on her head.

"This will hurt. And…Sakura? Don't fail."

Something about the way the woman's eyes flashed with warning and her serious tone unsettled Sakura. She felt that Kamiko hadn't told her something but it was already too late to say anything as the pink-haired medic suddenly felt immense pain settle in her head as though some external powerful force was squeezing her body with all its might.

And then everything happened at once.

She couldn't breathe. She felt bile rising in her throat. Nausea took over. Swallowing was painful; it felt like she was swallowing 1000 needles. Her body ached. The world began to spin. Suddenly all the colors began chip and crawl away from their substances, as though the colors were alive, into one concentrated kaleidoscope ball. The colors were like liquid paint.

Kamiko dissolved into nothingness. The large ball, that was a fusion of all bright splashes of color, soon began to shape into some kind of uncanny form; into a large streamlined dragon. The dragon roared, the loud sound ringing in Sakura's ears, and wrapped itself around Sakura's lithe from. Then it sunk its large fangs into her stomach.

Sakura lacked the strength to screech from the pain.

Even though her vision was blurry, when she looked down at herself, she could see that her form was shrinking. Long fingers and limbs diminished; emerald eyes increased in size; chubbiness settled into her cheeks; her chest flattened; she was looking more and more like her 7 year old self.

Then everything went black.

**Oooookay…that was bad…This took me forever to type, what do you think? I kept editing and re-editing and re-editing and did I mention re-editing all this because by God I didn't particularly like this chapter. Especailly with the dragon thing, you're probably gonna think. WTF? And I'll be like IKR? That was totally random but hey I just needed to think of something neh? So please tell me what you think because review means love and I really need to know what you think by the way I'll hopefully be posting the next chapter for Solace. **

**Alright I know you want to kill me cuz of solace and I can't blame you but I have to tell you that I was **_**swamped**_** with school work, it got to a point where I didn't have time to sleep let alone continue to write. There were times when I had to stay up 30-40 hours at a time and then when weekends came I just slept for 18 hours per day. And it's not only school work I am on the football team and I have a job, due to financial difficulties, so please understand that tackling all that was very difficult and because I have a job I came late home and had to start doing homework and studying at like 1 am. But you may be enlightened, or not, to know that I have 2000 words typed up for solace. **

**So thank you. **

**Misscheekiness **


	2. The girl who fell from the sky

**Oh dear God. ****Here is the too long await****ed**** chapter ****for you, dear readers. I wouldn't really be surprised if I lost most of them, one reader told me to update soon and I am like "Yep that girl you're right."  
**

**I truly do apologize so much for the short yet long awaited chapter but I'll hopefully start working on the next one soon. I am so sorry but I had my personal reasons and I was considering abandoning this but the reviews did keep me going.  
**

Sakura was in a trance.

She was floating over Konoha at night time, clothes flapping around wildly, the vast dark sky looming over her tiny swirling figure. She felt as buoyant as a feather.

Overhead cirrostratus clouds rushed by, looking like smudges of paint on a picture made by a careless artist; driven by the powerful roaring wind that whipped her hair.

Below, the artificial lights streaming through countless miniature windows reminded Sakura of twinkling stars. Though night had long embraced the land, many adults were still out; the swarms of lively voices formed incoherent chatter that hovered over Konoha, creating a warm atmosphere.

The full moon soaked her body in soft light, highlighting her lithe features. She heard the regular rhythm of her strong heart beating, pumping blood around her body perpetually.

Then she felt it.

A terrible feeling, a premonition. Fear seeped into her bones and trickled into her veins, spreading around her body like wildfire.

The temperature seemed to drop considerably. The pressure increased to a suffocating level. The thick uncanny tension lingered on the medic Nin's tongue, tasting like acid.

Sakura, still afloat, eyed Konoha warily. The civilians continued with their daily activities but she spotted a couple of people, most likely shinobi, stop in their tracks and look around. It occurred to her that she wasn't alone in thinking something terrible was about to happen.

Then something caught her eye.

Below, a dark figure with a suspicious aura suddenly materialized in an abandoned Konoha alley, his black cloak billowing in the harsh wind. Something about him and the way he materialized seemed strangely familiar but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. It wasn't helping that she couldn't see his face as it was mostly obscured by a dark hood.

His hands began to move swiftly and skillfully, forming hand seals, which she recognized as the summoning technique. He slammed his palm flat onto the ground causing inky black kanji to crawl in straight lines across the eroded soil in nine different directions.

_BOOM._

A dome-shaped cloud of smoke and dust suddenly blasted fiercely into the sky, covering half of Konoha.

A malicious roar resounded throughout the village and the ground rumbled with fear. The mountains surrounding Konoha looked like 3D images, trembling back and forth, back and forth. A massive orange paw protruded out of the dust cloud, swinging around wildly with the purpose to eradicate everything in its path.

Then the dust cleared to reveal an enourmas beast, its bone-chilling growls poisoning the blood with dread. His body glowed with malevolent chakra and slabs of saliva dripped from its fangs. But the most prominent feature of this monster was its nine tails that had enough power to destroy mountains and cause tsunamis with one swing.

'The Kyuubi! This is the attack that happened 16 years ago!' Sakura thought, panicked, her mouth hanging open.

Even though Sakura had witnessed Naruto in his Kyuubi form many times before, she was still frightened; the true form of the Kyuubi was ten times more terrifying.

Houses soon turned to debris as they were crushed beneath his weight. The horrifying crash of shattered windows soon filled her ears.

Wondering ninjas immediately sprung into action while civilians shrieked like banshees and ran in all directions, abandoning their shops and homes in their terror.

Lights flickered on in all the houses, some people jumping out to join the ninjas in the fight while others escaping towards safety.

She watched as the fox swung its tail at attacking ninjas. This action caused a gush of sudden wind to blow violently, affectively blowing the hood off the man's face.

One glance at the cloaked figure and Sakura's blood ran cold.

_Uchiha Madara, _she mouthed the name silently; it tasted like acid on her tongue. This time, however, the man was wearing a different mask from the time she had last seen him; a smooth titian one with black lined patterns curling around the eyehole. There was no mistaking it – this man was Uchiha Madara.

But something didn't add up.

'Wait, what?! How could this be? Wasn't the nine tails attack a natural disaster? Isn't that what Konoha told us in the academy days?! What is going on?!' Sakura thought, bewildered.

She stared, wide-eyed, at the Kyuubi and her stomach seemed to drop a couple inches. Its intimidating orbs blazed crimson with 3 tomeos swiveling wildly.

_Sharingan._

From that moment it became clear to Sakura that the nine tails was under Madara's control.

Konoha was wrong.

It wasn't a natural disaster. It was all that Madara's doing, everything. Or maybe Konoha lied to everyone; it wouldn't be the first time.

This sudden revelation came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks.

Everything she believed in was wrong.

Madara was, according to what Naruto told her, the shadow leader of the Akatsuki. In her time, it was well known that the Akatsuki were after the bijuu but if the Kyuubi was now under Madara's control, why wasn't the Kyuubi in Akatsuki's clutches by then?

Unless Madara failed, which he probably did seeing as the Kyuubi was safely sealed inside Naruto, at least in Sakura's time.

Or unless this was all just a dream and this was just all in her head but this…this Kyuubi attack upon Konoha was never in her head to begin with. Of course she knew it had happened based on what Naruto and Kakashi had told her but she never gave it a second thought.

She was always so worried about Naruto's safety that she didn't ever think or care to ask about how the Kyuubi got sealed into him in the first place.

She never thought that there was more to it, that there was someone behind the attack. But before she could think any further, a searing pain stabbed her in the head. She screamed and clutched her head in hopes of alleviating the pain.

Her vision blurred and everything began to twist in a spiral pattern until all that was left was darkness. Everything was gone.

There was nothing here – no time, no space, just a vast expanse of blackness. The roar of the Kyuubi and the screams of terror were drowned out until they completely faded.

Silence governed this dimension of nothingness.

Images flashed by in her mind, going faster and faster; they were memories, information, visions. It was hard to make out what was what. Her ears perked up to a faint sound that was distinctly getting louder – voices. Talking and whispering, shouting and screaming, voices and echoes that were all desperately trying to tell her something; they talked rapidly over one another. Flashes of people whizzed by: Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Tenten, Sai, Lee, Yondaime Hokage, a red-haired woman she didn't recognize but they spun so fast she could no longer depict their faces. Sakura closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to shutout this madness.

It hurt. There was no oxygen in this pitch black expanse and it was suffocating. Her lungs strained painfully with the effort to gather as much needed air as possible. She wanted, _needed_ to get out of here. Anywhere but here.

_What was this place anyway?_

Maybe she would be stuck here forever, floating in nothingness with a half-sentient mind.

But before her thoughts of doom could progress any further her nose registered a damp, chilly smell - air that was rich with oxygen. It was vague but it was something.

Flinging her eyes open, she spotted a tiny circle of pallid light that caused her eyes to sting. To Sakura's delight, she was moving closer to it, if the increase of its size was any indication.

She heard the faint sound of birds chirping and the low whistle of the wind. These familiar sounds gave Sakura a sense of tranquility. She was getting out of here!

'_Closer, closer!'_ She chanted.

As she floated closer to the light, the melodies of nature amplified and the beams of light radiated with such brightness that Sakura had to squint to protect her sensitive retinas.

The gentle breeze morphed into a strong perpetual wind and then…she was within range of gravity's clutches and the powerful force suddenly yanked her down to the pits of hell.

She winced as the howl of the wind pierced her eardrums. Short strands of pink hair violently slapping against her face and the uncomfortable lurch in her stomach told her that yes, she was indeed falling.

Opening her jade eyes, she realized that she was falling head down at maximum velocity. Panicked, the kunoichi scanned the speeding-by blurry surroundings. She had to do something or at this rate even a shinobi would die.

Swallowing the nausea, she willed her body to move, thrashing around wildly to reverse her position and land feet down instead of head down. But instead of listening to her commands, an unforeseen tiredness took hold of her body and she started seeing stars.

Fatigue chipped at the edges of her consciousness and the last thing Sakura remembered seeing was two enourmas gates and the soiled ground that was rapidly coming closer.

-000-

Two men in standard shinobi vests sat on the chairs in a lackadaisical manner. Despite being tasked with guarding the massive village gates their attention was directed elsewhere; on the recent rumors that floated around Konoha and served as juicy news.

"Kawabata-san is _dating_ him?" The middle-aged man whispered excitedly, his arms leaning on the wooden concession stand.

"Yeah, yeah man I'm telling you I saw it with my own eyes! She made out with him oh so sensually!"

"That doesn't mean she's dating him, she could be…" The middle-aged male trailed off as something caught his sharp eye.

"Hm? What's wrong?" The other shinobi replied, noticing his pause.

"What's that?" He pointed a stubby finger upwards and his partner's eyes followed his movement.

"It looks like…like someone is falling from the sky!" Exclaimed the younger shinobi.

True to the man's absurd claim, a tiny figure was rapidly falling from a lethal height. Judging by the said person's position from the sky, the stranger was going to fall near the Konoha gates. The unknown person appeared to be unconscious if the floppy and uncontrolled movements of the body were any indication.

Surprised, the younger ninja immediately took action and leaped into the air to catch the girl. The older shinobi, however, stood up from his chair and took a fighting stance. Years of experience with guarding the Konoha gates have taught the man to be suspicious to these strange occurrences.

"Be careful Totsune! This could be some kind of trap!" The man yelled as the said person landed gracefully on the ground with a pink-haired child in his arms.

Totsune let out a soft chuckle, obviously thinking that his superior was being ridiculous. The child, who was unconscious, in his arms appeared to be around six or seven years old. There is no way in hell that someone that small could be a threat!

"Relax Izumi, it's just a child."

The man named Izumi didn't seem to have heard Totsune as his charcoal black eyes scanned the child with an air of suspicion.

Although innocent in appearance this child could be a bloodthirsty monster, children could be just as dangerous as adults, if not more, and Izumi happened to know just one particular 7 year old prodigy from his own village that had the potential to be used as a lethal weapon in the future: Uchiha Itachi.

He had heard also rumors of child prodigies from other villages committing mass murders or being extremely skilled and powerful at such seemingly unlikely ages such as Momochi Zabuza from Kirigakure and Sasori from Sunagakure.

"Wait a minute…this kid…has a Konoha hitai-ate!"

Izumi blinked.

"What?! Totsune, I'll report this abnormality to Hokage-sama immediately while you get the child to the hospital and check all documents concerning the shinobi of this village to see if they have a file on her because I've never seen this child before and this could be a trap. Gather a team of interrogators to be ready to act when she wakes up."

"Yes sir!"

Finding a replacement to guard the gates of Konoha, Izumi sped towards the Hokage tower leaving Totsune to do his task. If Totsune thought that interrogating the pink-haired child was too cruel he didn't comment on it, after all, his senpai could be right.

**Yes I decided to mention Sasori here, hehe. He is, by the way, 8 years old here and I figured he would be quite famous by then because I mean hello! He's 8 years old and yet he graduated academy when he was 7 and is already probably quite skilled at puppet technique. I didn't mention Akasuna, because I think that he earned that nickname at about like 15 years old or something? **

**By the way, did I mention that this is a Sasosakuita fic? Probably not, but don't worry Itachi and Sakura will probably have a platonic relationship I mean you can't really date someone at age 7. **

**By the way, thank you so much for the reviews! I REALLY REALLY appreciate them and everytime I see one, it just makes me smile like an idiot! If you have any questions you can ask me :D **

**Peace out,**

**Misscheekiness. **


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